1. Field
The present disclosure relates to coating lactic acid bacteria with peptides and polysaccharide and the product by the same.
2. Discussion of Related Technology
It is well known that lactic acid bacteria has many physiological effects in improving and activating the functions of the intestines thereby maintaining good health. Non-coated lactic acid bacteria powder can be obtained by cultivating lactic acid bacteria, concentrating the culture and lyophilizing the concentrated culture. The non-coated lactic acid bacteria powders, however, are vulnerable to air, moisture and/or temperature. Therefore, when the lactic acid bacteria passes through the stomach after ingestion, almost all the lactic acid bacteria is killed by the gastric juice before reaching the intestine. Also, the non-coated culture powder has difficulty in maintaining stability during storage, distribution and processing for secondary products.
In order to overcome such problems, proposed have been a method for coating the lactic acid bacteria and a micro-encapsulation process using gelatins, sugars, gums, etc. The conventional process for coating the lactic acid bacteria usually comprises the step of introducing a specified coating material to the dried lactic acid bacteria culture as shown in FIG. 1. The lactic acid bacteria is cultivated M1, M2 within an anaerobic fermentation apparatus (herein after a “fermenter”) using a fermentation medium containing peptones, meat extracts, yeast extracts, glucose and inorganic ions. Such components contained in the medium are water-soluble and used only for proliferation of the lactic acid bacteria.
The concentrated cultures M3 are obtained by means of centrifugal separation or ultra-filtration, the purpose of which is solely separation and concentration of the cultures. During deep freezing and lyophilization processes M4, a cryoprotectant is generally added to prevent the lactic acid bacteria from being killed. In turn, a coating composition in an aqueous solution MS is applied to the obtained lactic acid bacteria culture, followed by lyophilization. Alternatively, a micro-spherical bead type coating composition may be applied to the dried lactic acid bacteria culture, followed by a nozzle-injection in a micro-encapsulation process. Such conventional processes for coating the lactic acid bacteria include the steps for introduction of the coating composition or micro-encapsulation after concentrating and drying the cultures, which requires an expensive coating agent and additional steps thereby increasing production costs. Furthermore, materials and individual steps may overlap since the lyophilization process after coating it un a liquid state requires a cryoprotectant and a stabilizer to ensure improved viability and stability.